


Player 2

by bagelistrying



Category: Subnautica (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Contrasting personalities, Gay Male Character, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, More tags to be added, Neptune Escape Rocket, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Second Chances, Second MC I guess, Sunbeam Is Still Gone, Survivor Guilt, Timeline What Timeline, What-If, a little gay, probably, saving people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:01:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26438380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bagelistrying/pseuds/bagelistrying
Summary: Mason was so sure all the Lifepods were empty. How would anyone survive? It all seemed impossible- until he met Emery.
Kudos: 11





	1. Emery

**Author's Note:**

> This was just meant to be a one page work with some mediocre characters and dialogue I thought of in the shower. However, in my attempt to get away from responsibilities, it tumbled into a >10 page story. It has a short introduction because I like descriptions, but I hope you like the first chapter!

**Intro**  
A sudden jolt shook the escape pod, and Mason stumbled back, slamming a hand onto the wall to keep himself standing. The pod had hit the water and now swayed back and forth gently.   


A small fire had started from a handful of exposed wires, so he grabbed the fire extinguisher from the ground and put it out, coughing away the fumes and he scaled the ladder into the new world he had found himself in. 

Mason pushed open the translucent metal trapdoor at the top of the pod and climbed out. 

On the horizon was the colossal silhouette of the ship, dislodged pieces dotting the dark waters around it. Above the ship was an enormous scarlet moon that was slowly rising from the surface of the water, stamped onto the navy backdrop like a weeping crimson bloodstain. 

Gazing into the ocean below him, he saw speckles of fluorescent lights, dots of green, white or yellow gliding under the surface and mirroring the stars in the velvet dome above him. He slid down the rungs on the outside of the pod, icy water flooding over his feet, partially numbed by the insulation of his wetsuit.   


Glancing at the light in the corner of his vision that indicated his oxygen levels, Mason sank deeper into the water, falling into the portal of the ocean. 

Everything bloomed with life, swaying kelp forests stretching out of sight, each plant pinned with clumps of neon leaves that flowed like Christmas lights. 

Gathering a handful of the fluorescent material as a specimen, he kicked back up to the surface. The metronome splashing of the waves was suddenly broken by a robotic voice over static filled humming from his earpiece, the coarse, vibrating sound listing information on the alien world. 

He ignored it, gliding back over to the escape pod. The world was his to explore.

**Emery**

Mason slid out of the hatch of the Seamoth, adjusting the oxygen tank on his back. The regulator kept digging into the neck of his wetsuit, but he hadn’t time to fix it now. He glanced at the pressure gauge.   


There were about two minutes of oxygen left, but as long as the Seamoth was in the cave with him, he had more than enough resources to make it back up to the surface. Making sure the submarine was properly docked near the ceiling, he swam down to the wreck at the bottom of the cave. 

Enormous, bioluminescent mushrooms bubbled and pulsed on the rocky floor, the translucent flesh casting bright purple light onto the stalactites above him, warped and flowing in the dark water. Smaller plants with pointed leaves dotted the surface beneath the fungi, alive with fish darting through the sharp leaves. Tattered and falling apart, one of the lifepods lay amongst the flora. 

The number on the side had been scraped off, flakes of red paint floating in the water around it. He kicked down to it, yanking open the hatch and scanning the array of fragments on the floor. Digging through the debris, he hefted a large part at his side. The remains of another battery charger. Just what he needed. 

Carrying it under his arm, he reached for the next hatch. Sucking the air from his mask through his teeth, he tried to pull it open, but it was sealed tight. 

He could go back to the Seamoth with the charger and leave, but what if there was something important? It would take longer, but it was worth the risk. 

He slid the laser cutter off his belt and held it up to the door. He watched the glimmering red line trace a messy rectangle in the steel, before finally falling into the chamber. 

Air bubbles suddenly shot out of the wreck, flying past him and dissipating near the cave ceiling. The chamber was watertight. 

He climbed through the space the laser had left, searching for more parts, but something in the corner of the pod caught his eye. Right beside the ladder back up was something moving. 

He whipped out his survival knife, ready for another attack. If he was lucky, the alien was passive and would swim away. If not, hopefully it would be weak enough that he could take it down without damaging his gear. But the creature stayed still. He stepped closer, his heart pounding as he realized what it was. 

It was a person.

A young woman had pressed herself into the corner, clutching an oxygen mask to her face and staring up at him with pure horror in her eyes. Her wetsuit had a tear in the arm, and her eyes were bloodshot from being open in salt water. 

Mason inhaled again, backing away as he searched for the best way to handle the situation. He had just sliced open the hatch with a laser, and with all his gear weighing him down, probably didn’t look too human.

“I’m Mason,” he said through the mask, praying she could understand his muffled speech. “From Lifepod 5,” he continued.   


Her expression softened a little bit, but her chest was still heaving as she carefully watched him. “There’s a Seamoth right outside here with spare oxygen. If you can hold your breath for 20 seconds, we can get there.” She paused for a moment, glancing at the gauge on her own air tank. Then, she nodded slowly, getting to her feet. 

Mason turned and swam back through the gap in the door, leading her back to the Seamoth. 

Once they were both inside, Mason set down the battery and gestured for her to sit down in the pilot’s seat. “Now. What is your name?” She was still gasping for air and shivering, but managed to reply to him.

“Emery Ridgewell.” Though shaking, her voice was clear and confident.

“And you also crashed from the Aurora five days ago?”

“Yes.” She confirmed.

“What lifepod?”

“9.” Emery clasped her hands together in her lap and looked up. “H-how did you find me?”

Mason knelt down and shut the hatch at the base of the Seamoth. “The distress signal, sent out a few days ago. You gave your coordinates.”

“But the roof caved in afterwards. Was there another entrance?”

“Yes, there’s a cave system leading down here. If you’re ready to head back to base, we can-“

“Yeah,” she nodded, swallowing. “I think I want to leave this place.” Emery stood up and let Mason take the wheel, watching him navigate back up through the narrow caves over his shoulder. 

As light began to filter through, a low, droning call rang through the water. “What was that?” Emery asked, staring up through the front window for the source of the sound.

“Reefbacks.” Mason replied, maneuvering his way past another outcrop. “We’ll get to see them once we get closer to the surface.” 

As the windscreen filled with swaying green vines and the caves fell behind them, Emery glanced at the dashboard. “How did you get the power for this thing, anyway? I thought the spare batteries were all on the Aurora.”

Mason didn’t reply for a moment. “Uh... well, each lifepod has three batteries, right?” 

“Right,”

“And I found another lifepod before yours. I recovered the batteries because the pod was... empty. The air tanks hadn’t survived the crash, and-“ Mason was still focused on navigating the kelp ahead of him, but was clearly uncomfortable. “-neither had the crew members. You’re the first person I’ve found that’s still alive.”

“...oh.” Emery replied, stepping back from the front again, without a good response. 

As the vines began to clear, a colossal shape dominated the scene above them. Soft blue striped on the underside of the creature were reminiscent of the mushrooms, supporting a wide, round carapace. Three whip-like tentacles protruded from the back, slowly propelling it through the water as the same deep song reverberated through the water. “Woah.”

“Yep, those are the reefbacks. They’re harmless, though, even if you attack them. Seeing them means you’re closer to the surface, and that there aren’t going to be any other... things nearby. Things that aren’t as pleasant to be around as they are. Luckily,” Mason continued, piloting the Seamoth past the reefback and letting the submarine break the surface of the water, “this planet has a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere, meaning we at least  have plenty of air.”   


He shoved open the hatch in the ceiling and climbed up the ladder, sitting on top of the submarine as Emery followed. The sun glittered on the waves that splashed up the sides, the wreck of the Aurora still smoking on the horizon. “This is where I landed. I would have gotten closer to try to retrieve more materials from the ship, but it’s all radiated. Another reason that other lifepods didn’t make it.”   


He gestured to the wreck, which Emery squinted at, analyzing the flames dancing up from it. “Surely all that wasn’t from the crash alone...right?”

“No. Yesterday, it self destructed because the crew that was left realized it was too late. I didn’t have time to tell them I was working on a radiation suit before it exploded.”

“That’s… terrible. Did you see it happen?” Mason nodded. “Was it... at least cool?” 

Mason nodded again. “It was quite the spectacle.”

“I’m kind of sad I missed it. I mean, it’s awful having to see that, but… I don’t know. Beats being trapped in the lifepod in the cave with limited oxygen.”

“Sounds about right.” They sat in silence for a moment, and the night sky began to creep in. But they stayed there, listening to the calls of the reefbacks and watching the sun set over the ruins of the Aurora.


	2. Sunbeam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Sunbeam ship arrives to rescue Emery and Mason.

_ ‘Aurora, this is Sunbeam. Approaching Planet 4546B. What are your coordinates? Over.’ _

Mason leaned around the corner. “Emery! Quick, we need to get to the island!”

“What?” Emery walked over, confused. “Why?”

“The Sunbeam is almost here, and it’s going to land in 20 minutes,”

“What’s the Sun… Mason, is someone coming to save us?”

He replayed the message. “A cargo ship was passing by and got the signal. It’s captained by Avery Quinn, from Andromeda. Hold on.” Mason leaned over the radio again.

“This is Aurora. We’re in a Lifepod just northwest of the crash zone, but it’s too shallow to land. There’s an island at 387, 4, 1113, so we’ll be waiting for you there.”

“I can’t believe it.” Emery suddenly grinned. “I thought we would be stuck, but now… nevermind, we can talk about it when we get there. I’ll meet you outside the Seamoth.” She practically ran back through the hall to get a mask and left. Once she had left, Mason listened carefully for the static.

“And Avery?”

“Yes?” Came the reply, slightly distorted.

“Thank you.”

The radio was crackling faintly as they waited on the island, Mason watching the sky carefully for a sign of the ship. “How are we going to tell them about everyone else?” Emery asked, who was sitting on the shore, running her finger absentmindedly across the sharp rocks. 

“They’ll know. We were the only ones responding to the signals, right? Why, do you think they would blame us or something?”

“I don’t know. Some part of me feels selfish for surviving, but that seems dumb. It was just luck, right?”

“Yeah, that sounds-”

_ ‘Aurora, it’s Sunbeam again. We’re entering the upper atmosphere.’  _ The voice came clear over the static. Mason stood up, a hand shielding his eyes from the sunlight, searching the clouds. 

“I see it!” He suddenly yelled, pointing at a tiny speck against the sky, falling closer and closer to the waves.

_ ‘Survivors, we see you! God, I don’t know how you’ve held out this long. We- What do you mean?’  _ Avery had turned to someone else, his voice faint but concerned. ‘ _ Debris? We can’t- I’m sorry, we have to, there’s no turning back.’ _ Static suddenly crackled over him, drowning out his voice. 

“Avery, what’s going on?” Mason asked cautiously, with a glance over at Emery. “If you need to get back into orbit-”

_ ‘Robinson!’  _ Panicked yelling was echoing in the background, sirens screeching over the static. ‘ _ Change course, now! We’re going to- Set thrusters to-’  _

The transmission cut out, but Emery was watching the ship itself. Just before Avery had fallen silent, something collided with the Sunbeam, and a sharp white light flashed across the sky. 

Flames suddenly leapt across the ship, bubbling out from it in a spectacular, colorful explosion, laced with white veins of gas before dissipating in the atmosphere. Debris tumbled down from the sky, slicing through the dark smoke and landing in pieces around the Aurora. Emery averted her eyes from it, only managing a gasp. Mason had only taken a step back, biting his lip. 

“Avery…” He muttered. Emery didn’t think that Mason could look scared, but he seemed almost hurt, his gaze still fixed on where the ship had erupted into flame.

“W-What happened to it?”

“He…” Mason swallowed. “It must have collided with something in orbit, and just…” He picked up the radio, picking at his nails with his mask under his arm. “It’s okay. If we lose motivation now, we’ll never get back home. It’ll be alright.” He started walking back down the hill towards the Seamoth. Emery, with a last glance at the sky, followed, trying not to look defeated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I had to cut out the Kharaa storyline for the sake of plot. I wanted the conflict to be more based on the characters instead of just taking it from the game. And fun fact: if you reach the quarantine enforcement platform before the sunbeam arrives, Avery says he can’t get to you because of debris anyway, so I used that idea. Also the story wasn’t gay enough so here have heavily implied Avery/Mason.


	3. Reaper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mason and Emery, on their way to the Aurora, encounter a Reaper Leviathan.

“We’re in the crash zone now.” Mason noted from the front of the Seamoth. “The radiation shouldn’t be a problem, but just in case, do you have the suits ready?”

“Yes, both of them are here.” She confirmed. “Wait.” Emery stood up as a strange, cold roar echoed past, rough and low as it hung in the water before fading. “I’ve never heard  _ that  _ before.”

“Me neither. Is there something new around here?”

A massive silhouette emerged from the murky water. It began to grow closer, long and snakelike as it slid gracefully yet ominously past. The roar passed again, but louder.

“I think we found the source.” Emery mentioned, biting her lip. Strange pointed fins came into view, two pectoral and four more caudal fins protruding from the tail in dark spikes.

“That’s not a reefback…” Mason said, his eyes narrowing at it.

“Mason, I don’t like this… it’s getting closer…”

The shape began to glide by as they waited at the cliff. Emery held her breath.

With a flick of its enormous tail, it suddenly changed directions, charging at the Seamoth and grappling onto the submarine with four giant mandibles, black at the tips and greyer as it reached the creature’s enormous jaws. 

A maroon horn protruded from its wrinkled face, four empty eyes glittering from the sides. Its mouth dropping open to reveal layers of tiny, pointed teeth, it began to shake the Seamoth back and forth as Mason wrestled with the control panel. 

“God, what is it?! Mason, get it off, quick!”

“I’m trying!”

“Uh…” Emery swept the dashboard, glancing up at the monster dominating the windshield. “...the defense systems! Use them!”

“Right!” Mason lunged for a button in front of him, and Emery, clutching the back of the seat, watched as blue sparks rippled out from the vehicle and the creature recoiled. 

Folding over its tail with pain, it slowed down, beginning to drift away before flipping onto its back. Mason relaxed, watching it float up to the surface. 

“We… killed it?”

“Looks like it. These are some pretty strong mechanisms, we’re not out here to stun sardines.”

“Jeez…” Emery sighed, a hand on her chest. “What even was that?”

“Let’s go find out.” Mason stood up and grabbed his diving gear. Sliding the mask over his face, he gestured for Emery to do the same before vanishing beneath the hatch.

* * *

He carefully approached the monster, with his scanner at his side. Gently, he reached up and ran a finger along the scarred, clammy skin. “Totally fried.” He said, drawing back his hand. Emery arrived beside him. “Go on,” she pointed at the scanner.

“Right.” He lifted the scanner, sweeping it across the creature then squinting at the small panel on the back that lit up in his hand. He read the data entry aloud. “Reaper Leviathan. Found in open areas, aggressive and carnivorous.”

“Well, we know that now.”

“Cathemeral and 55 meters long on average.”

“Woah.” She looked back up at the Reaper, its maroon fins just above the surface as it swayed idly with the gentle waves. “And we just…”

“Killed it, yeah.”

“Do we just leave it? What else would we...” Emery trailed off.

“I guess. I’m sure the ecosystem has other creatures to take care of it.”

“Will there... be more?” She asked with uncertainty, looking back down into the trench it had emerged from.

“Hopefully not. If it was us they were after, then we can get to the Aurora quickly and the Seamoth should be fine if we leave it docked.” 

“Are you sure?” Emery watched a fish swim by her side.

“The worst thing that could happen is that another one of these shows up and destroys the Seamoth. Then we would have to swim back, staying close to the surface or just hitch a ride on a reefback. But that’s probably not going to happen.”

“Okay. Let’s just… go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Still working on the next chapter, so I might work on some other fics before I get that done :)


	4. Aurora

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mason and Emery split up to explore the Aurora.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no i promise i have not abandoned this fic I like the characters I'm just bad at staying motivated

The ruined Aurora was so much more daunting in person than the silhouette on the horizon. Colossal walls of metal had flaked off the inner structure, revealing burnt remains of chambers, piled with blackened parts. Debris scattered the murky water around the airship, drifting into other pieces and bouncing with the waves. 

“Well, it’s bigger than I remember,” Emery mentioned, climbing onto one of the outstretched platforms. 

“Hopefully that means more parts to recover, right? By the way, I made a list of the things we need. Here.” She handed her a tablet with a mass of notes and part names. “There are some repair materials, but a lot of it is for project Neptune.”

Emery was still scrolling through the list. She didn’t know if she would be able to collect it all, or if she would be able to recognize them. She looked back up, still only half paying attention. “Huh? Yeah. I-”

“Oh, you’ll need a scanner, too. Some pieces might be pretty hard to find without it, especially with the ash covering everything.” Shifting the tablet to her other hand, she took the scanner from Mason, momentarily analyzing it before he spoke up again. 

“Well, we better get going. I’ll be in the east- actually…” He glanced up at the sky, holding a hand out to his side. “Now that it’s landed, that would be the north wing. Just that way.” He pointed accordingly. Do you want to cover this area?” Emery nodded. “Great, then we’ll meet back here in half an hour.” 

He strode off and vanished behind another wall further down the wreck. Emery glanced at the list. Of course, Mason had everything written out. The least she could do was find it all. She took a careful step through a hole in the ship, the sole of her shoe already catching on a jutted out piece of metal. She regained her balance and continued her way down the hallway. 

One of the cabinets looked almost untouched, so she unstuck it from its hinges and retrieved an abandoned fire extinguisher. Emery apprehensively lifted it to a knot of exposed wires, sparking and fueling a small fire next to her. She wasn’t sure if it would work perfectly, or explode into aluminum shreds that would slice through her suit and irreparably damage her internal organs. 

Luckily, it was the former. The foam burst from the nozzle and quickly suffocated the flames, dripping down from the electrical panel and onto the floor. The next few rooms were less damaged, and she managed to find more of the parts on the list. She turned the corner into the next hall, a sheet of metal glittering through one of the doorways. 

Checking the material again on the tablet, she hurried over to it and attempted to dislodge the piece from beneath the toppled desks. Her arms ached as it started to come loose, but a deafening crack split the air. She dropped the part and turned back to the doorway. A beam had toppled from the ceiling, crushing the door frame and folding the metal around it. She was trapped.

Mason ducked under another beam, slipping through the next doorway, scanner in hand. The soft blue light met with the last sparks sizzling from exposed electronics, sifted by the smoky air as they dripped down to the floor. He had been navigating the halls for a while now, taking detours around collapsed rooms and picking up the odd part or two. Finally, he reached a dead-end - nothing but a single room at the end of the segment.

Flames sizzled around the doorway, climbing up the ruined metal. The captain’s quarters were smaller than he remembered, the walls tightened by the mess on the floor and the burn marks that wept across the various maps. He spotted a roll of paper sitting at the foot of the desk. All the way at the front of the ship at the end of the hallway? They had to be important. 

He set down the fire extinguisher he had found and made his way over to it. Crossing the threshold, he felt something catch on his toe, sending him stumbling forward as the flames dancing from the ground leaped at him, singeing the hairs on his arm. He frantically brushed them away, swearing under his breath as he caught himself and attempted to stomp out the rest of the sparks around his feet. 

He had been careless again. Walking more slowly over to the desk, Mason dragged the piece of paper to the edge of the desk and pinched out the fire on the edge. Unrolling it, he tried to decipher the spider web of instructions and diagrams woven across the paper. They were blueprints. And exactly the ones he needed.

Emery carefully stepped past another pile of glowing ash on the floor, still searching for another way around the collapse. She had never gotten to explore the Aurora, she mostly was kept away in the medical wing. So much of it was strange to her, but the eerie familiarity remained. The same metal structures and beams holding up the low ceilings reflected the amber waves of light from beneath them. They reminded her of the alarms, red lights screaming at her from the halls, sirens flooding the ship. 

Ten minutes later, she saw the glimmer of the sea down the hall. An opening in the front wall had deteriorated into an opening big enough for her to step through, so she slid past and set all the materials she had collected on the ground. She could see the Seamoth bobbing on the surface just south, so she gathered what she could and started loading it into the Seamoth. 

Once everything was set up, she checked the tablet again. It had been 35 minutes and Mason still wasn’t back. Had he gotten trapped as well? Another five minutes passed. Still nothing. 

Suddenly, one of the plates further down the ship tumbled down the slope and into the water, bobbing on the surface as Mason emerged from behind the metal, laser cutter in hand.

“Oh! There you are,” she exhaled. “I was getting worried.”

“My bad, I ended up going all the way to the captain’s quarters. Then I may or may not have gotten lost.”

“The captain’s quarters? I thought that was, like, way over there,” She gestured to the front of the massive structure.

“Yeah, I didn’t realize how far it was. Anyway, what did you pick up?”

“There were a few items I couldn’t find...” Emery muttered, scrolling down the list on the tablet. She was leaning against the outer wall of the Aurora as Mason walked over from the Seamoth. “I just couldn’t get all of them, sorry,”

Mason tilted his head at the screen. “You didn’t have to get every single one, you know,” he nodded as she pointed out some of the rarer materials he had written down. “I just figured it would be easiest if basically everything we need was there,”

“Oh, well, I managed to pick up the rest of the stuff,” Emery continued, stepping gently down the slope toward the Seamoth. “I already loaded them up, but there were a lot of smaller batteries and transformers.”

“That’s good, we need those,” Mason nodded, following her back to the vehicle.

“So, what about you?” Emery asked as she boarded the Seamoth, holding open the hatch for Mason. “Anything interesting that you found?”

He grinned, climbing into the Seamoth. “If I’ve mapped this out correctly... possibly a ride home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go! Not too much happened in this chapter, but the next one I've already written part of and it's cool.


	5. Seamoth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emery finally expresses her concerns about the trip. How where she was now seemed... undeserved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes im sorry i havent updated this fic in so long and this chapter is really short and mostly dialogue. There's a lot of character in it, bu i just couldn't figure out how to finish it. i finally got something down so I can continue. Enjoy!

The sound of the hatch closing caught Mason’s attention. “Why were you out there? It’s almost night,” he asked, looking up from the counter.

“I was fixing the Seamoth from the Reaper attack,” Emery replied, pulling off her mask. “It really took a beating.”

“Oh, I was planning to do that tomorrow morning. Guess I can just work on repairing the vehicle bay, instead. Thanks-”

“I- I did that too,” Emery added.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I had to replace the ladder, but most of the electronics were unscathed.”

“You didn’t have to do that, you know. I mean, I’m grateful for it, but… why?”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Emery replied, returning her gear to the locker. “I know that as long as we’re here, we have limited… everything. In survival terms, I’m literally just a burden taking space and oxygen.” Mason looked as if he wanted to say something but didn’t. “If I don’t make myself useful, it would be more convenient for you if I... died.”

“But…” He pondered for a minute. “It’s the same the other way around. What’s so special about me that my survival is above yours?”

“Uh… I don’t think I was meant to survive!” She set down the wrench, half laughing. “Think about it- landing just outside the crash zone, sinking 200 meters, and then having the ceiling cave in and destroy the fabricator? Every single other person in the lifepod got crushed. That sounds like fate to me. The only reason I’m here is because of you.”

Mason frowned, trying to work out what she had said. “But that doesn’t make my life worth any more than yours, right?”

“Whatever. I’m a scientist, not a philosopher. Point is, I’m going to try and keep us both alive until help arrives, even if it makes it more difficult.”

Mason nodded and looked back down. “That’s a good idea. I’m glad you were close to the base, though. It’s a lot harder to focus when a random crashfish could jump at you out of the dark. But anyway, I’m going to keep working.”

“See, that’s the thing, you’re always working so hard and I don’t feel like I am. What- what can I do?”

Mason sighed, stepping back from his workbench. “If you really, really, want to help, there was a part down in the jellyshroom cave I needed. It’s the battery from the lifepod, I never got a chance to get it. If you could-”

“Yeah,” Emery said. “I’ll get it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have a lot of next chapter written and I'm so excited, probably one of my favorites so far.


	6. Flashback

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emery returns to the jellyshroom cave to get the battery for Mason, met by some nasty memories of the crash.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> creative title there bagel
> 
> and tw for some gore and graphic stuff for this chapter

Having carefully docked the Seamoth at the top of the cave, Emery drifted closer to the bottom, keeping an eye out for any eels or snakes around the mushrooms lighting up the water. 

For a moment she thought she had missed it, but finally caught a glimpse of red paint and made her way to the remnants of Lifepod 9. It was strange being back in the cave. Being so panicked to leave, she hadn’t noticed that it was oddly beautiful. 

The rock formations that supported the toadstools were worn by the water, exposing the delicate layers of sediment. Small, red snakes darted around, fangs glimmering with the soft magenta glow, the same light cast across the Lifepod. 

Now, seeing it again, it all felt… wrong. It didn’t belong there. Something leaped up from inside her chest, and she wasn’t in the cave anymore.

_ It felt like the whole atmosphere was shaking as the  _ Aurora  _ plunged into the water outside the Lifepod. The three others with Emery hurriedly prepared for the landing.  _

_ Lysithea was hunched over the radio, desperately trying to pick up a signal as it sputtered distress calls from the  _ Aurora _. Felix was preparing the fire extinguisher, and Leonie was clinging to the ladder, wrestling with the lock to the hatch, eyebrows furrowed with frustration. _

_ Emery didn’t know what to do. She had braced herself in the corner, trying not to cry. It would just make her feel more pathetic.  _

_ She was so incredibly useless beside the others, and keeping the tears back behind her eyes was more stressful than the alarms and flashing lights that were trapped in the lifepod. They bounced around her, red stripes illuminating and slicing over the rest of the crew. They were overwhelming her, screaming at her to move, do something, be useful.  _

_ But she couldn’t. So Emery waited, her arms folded over her neck and head as they plummeted towards the surface of the planet. Then they impacted. _

_ Fire. There was fire everywhere. She stood up, her vision swimming, and located a crimson cylinder next to her. Grabbing it by the handle, she swept it back and forth across the flames, sighing with relief as they died down, letting her stomp out the embers.  _

_ She took a deep breath. The air was smokey and filled with chemicals, but- _

_ Hold on. She thought. I’m... breathing. There’s air, and I’m moving, and I’m... alive. _

_ The vision flooded back. She wasn’t falling anymore, and she was in the Lifepod after the  _ Aurora  _ crashed. What was she meant to do again? Attempt contact, assess the damage and maintain essential functions. _

_ She rushed over to the radio, immediately drawing back the hand she had lifted. Sparking, colorful wires were hanging from it, the plate on the front shattered on the floor. Her gaze drifted down to the ground, and she spotted a strange shape lying on the ground.  _

_ Most of it was obscured by the heavy counter, which had toppled over in the crash, and it was strangely pale. She knelt down to touch it and immediately regretted her decision.  _

_ It was a hand. Lysithea’s hand. She had crewmates, what had happened to them? She was a monster. How had she not thought of them first?  _

_ She had gotten such tunnel vision with the fire and radio, it hadn’t even occurred to her. She tried to speak, but only managed a soft ‘no...’ to herself, heart feeling like it was going to pound out of her chest.  _

_ What about Leonie and Felix? She scanned the pod again. Materials were strewn all across the floor, covered in foam from the extinguisher, random parts in pieces. She spotted something else that looked like an arm. Carefully, she reached for the remains of the fabricator, which had been broken to pieces.  _

Oh, god. The fabricator’s broken _. She thought. Now wasn’t the time. Slowly, she dug Felix out of the wreck. His head emerged from the pieces, and Emery gently lifted a hand to her mouth.  _

_ The right side of his face was completely scarred, burn marks and blood sealing his eye shut. It had already corroded down to his neck, ash blanketing the remains of his flesh.  _

_ Felix’s hand, which had also been lying in the flames, was shriveled and blackened, more scars up to his elbow. She didn’t want to look at it. Pressing her eyes shut, Emery’s mind raced for the next thing to do.  _

_ She didn’t want to see Leonie dead, but what if she wasn’t? What if every moment she wasted was one that could have saved her? She decided she had no choice. The ladder was warped and the paint slowly flaked off with the ash, but she searched the debris beneath it.  _

_ Spotting Leonie’s bright red hair, she found her wrist and checked for a pulse, begging to feel the movement and warmth of another living human.  _

_ But there wasn’t.  _

_ Emery got to her feet. They all blacked out when it had happened. At least they didn’t die painfully. Speaking of pain, her head was throbbing terribly.  _

_ She reached up and ran a finger past her temple. There was blood on it, dark and cold from drying up of her forehead. She had suffered minor head trauma. Great. _

_ She scolded herself internally. Sure, it would have been nice to make it out unscathed, but at least she was alive at all. She tried to silence her thoughts as she continued to search the pod for important parts, keeping her gaze away from the three bodies beneath her feet. _

_ Five days later. Despite hunger tearing at her stomach whenever she moved, food wasn’t the problem. She had used up all the distilled water supply, the rest destroyed in the crash. Even now, the oxygen was running low.  _

_ She had discovered that they were in some sort of cave surrounded by saltwater, home to something with the ability to constantly attack the outside of the pod. She wasn’t sure if it was just falling rocks from the ceiling, or if she had encountered sentient life.  _

_ Emery had noticed something else, too. She had realized that she could cry now but still  _ _ tried not to. She relied on oxygen from the tanks now and sobbing uncontrollably used up air pretty quickly.  _

_ Now, she had nothing left to do but sit in the corner of the pod, waiting, praying for somebody. _

_ The realization crept in slowly, so insidiously that there was a hitch in her breathing when it finally hit her. She was going to die. Just like all her crewmates. Future historians, if they discovered their bodies, wouldn’t care if she had clung to life for five days longer than the others.  _

_ It was over. _

_ T _ _ hen a red line appeared on the vault door. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im finally getting this fic back on track, i know what I'm gonna do for the rest of it and i really want to finish it. Thanks for reading! Also don't mind the fe3h names, i needed placeholders, though i would love it if canonically Lysithea, Felix, and Leonie lived long enough to travel through space portals.


	7. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emery is forced to flee the cave after what she saw.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes im back and refuse to abandon this fic! There are kind of two scenes in one here, with a bit left unsaid between, but its cleared up next chapter. I really hope you enjoy, only 1 or 2 more chapters left!

She couldn’t go back in. Lysithea, Felix, and Leonie were all still in there. There was no way she would be able to find the part without seeing them all again. What would she tell Mason? He would think she was so vulnerable, not being able to go back and get one thing. 

He went through the exact same thing, what if there were other people in the Lifepod that he hadn’t talked about either? He could have even had it way worse. She and her crew members were close, but what if Mason had a family member or a partner that died too? She pressed her eyes shut, a tear slipping from her eye and into the bottom of her mask. 

She felt like such a child. Maybe the part wasn’t in there at all. Maybe she could find it somewhere else, and they wouldn’t have to worry about it. 

_ Thirty seconds of oxygen remaining _ . The AI suddenly said, startling her. She had been waiting there so long, she hadn’t even realized. I’ll go back once I get more oxygen. She thought. She swam back over to the Seamoth, leaning on the back of the pilot’s seat as she watched the Lifepod through the windshield. 

Now that she was here, she didn’t want to go back. It was warm and dry inside the submarine, and it didn’t have any dead bodies in it. As much as reason tugged at the back of her mind, she was still shaking, her only choice to steer her way back to the base.

Emery was hunched over the workbench when she heard the hatch slam shut. She glanced up, dropping her calipers as she saw Mason’s figure standing down the hall, slouched over and clutching his arm. She already caught a glimpse of blood from beneath his hand.

“Oh my god! Are you okay?” She dropped the rest of the materials and ran over to the white box on the wall. “Don’t answer that,” she opened the latch and grabbed the medkit from inside, shutting it and striding over to Mason. “Stupid question...” she muttered, tearing open an antibacterial pad before unrolling a set of bandages. Mason watched silently as she carefully treated the gash before stepping back and asking him, “Is there anything else?”

“No,” Mason smiled.

“Hey, hold on, why are you smiling?”

“You just treated a crashfish bite almost perfectly in under 30 seconds.”

She closed the medkit and put it back in its box, replying, “It wasn’t perfect, and also, what does that mean?”

“Now you can’t call yourself incompetent, can you? That was amazing,”

“I didn’t even...” Emery stuttered. Mason raised an eyebrow at her. “Fine, but that was like, my whole job back on the Aurora, so... Whatever. Why were you down there? Weren’t you the one talking about how awful it is at night?”

“I needed lead, and I was just in the shallow caves. It would have been more efficient to go further down, but that would have been even more dangerous.” He walked past her and opened a locker on the wall. Emery helped him unpack four heavy pieces of lead, each hastily drilled off a sandstone outcrop and roughly the size of grapefruit.

“Whoa, what are you even making with all that?”

“A rocket.”

“What?” Emery laughed, shutting the locker. 

“Yeah, a rocket to get us out of here. There are plenty of parts and materials on the Aurora, and the fabricator can do most of the work. Why, do you have another idea?”

“No, I... guess you’re right. I’m not sure what I expected, we have to leave somehow. Do you... know how to build rockets?”

“There were blueprints in the captain’s quarters. By the morning, we can assemble the launch platform. Then by the end of the week, we should be headed home. Plus, it doesn’t have to be much. It would be nice to bring plenty of samples back with us, but we can sacrifice that. The only thing we really need is for it to work.”

“And if it does-”

“ _ When _ it does-” Mason corrected her.

“We’ll get to go home?”

“That’s the plan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the fact that this is set like a thousand years in the future makes the fe3h names even more out of place and don't plan on changing them


	8. Acceptance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emery finally manages to talk to Mason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> second to last chapter! There's a bit more resolution to what happened when Emery went back to the cave, so I really hope you enjoy this one!

Mason was hunched over the counter again, adjusting a stray wire from the battery charger. He had better fine motor skills than Emery, mostly because she stressed herself out in fear of dropping something. 

He slid the front plate back over the charger and mounted it on the wall, refilling the slots with the spare batteries he had set aside. “Alright. A bit of a setback, but now all we need is one more ion power cell for the fuel reserve. Hopefully, from there it will be smooth sailing.”

“An ion power cell? Oh, I think I saw one of those! It was in the jellyshroom cave, but I couldn’t get it because... the Seamoth was low on power.”

“Great.” Mason nodded at the hatch. “Do you want to grab it? I’ll get the rest set up and you can meet me on the launch platform.”

“Um...” Emery looked at the hatch. “Yeah.” She walked over to it but stopped. “Actually-“ Mason had already focused on the fabricator, punching in more commands. She clasped her hands behind her back. _ It isn’t weak to ask for help _ . She repeated in her head. “Can you get it?”

He looked up. “I guess. Why?”

She took a deep breath. “Well, it’s actually back in Lifepod 9. I was going to get it when you asked me, but I...” tears were pricking at her eyes again, but she couldn’t go back now. She swallowed, maintaining her composure. “...I was scared.” Her voice broke at the end of her sentence, making it sound like a question. “Um, a- a bunch of my crewmates were in there, and the thought of seeing them dead... hurt. A lot. I didn’t want to have a panic attack and die or something stupid, so-“ she was staring at the floor, scared to meet Mason’s gaze. “I just left.”

“Emery,” Mason said, once he was sure she had finished. Emery slowly looked up, running her tongue along her teeth. “Why didn’t you tell me?” His tone wasn’t accusing or angry. Just soft and a little concerned, if anything. It comforted her a bit.

“I don’t know... Maybe I thought you had been through worse. Or... yeah, I don’t- really know.”

Mason turned off the fabricator and stepped away from the counter. “Here, picture this. By some terrible coincidence, while I’m 300 meters down looking for Reapers or whatever...”

Emery sniffled, concealing a laugh at the thought of looking for a Reaper.

“I run out of oxygen, all the way down in some trench. Meanwhile, you’re up here and get attacked by a reefback or something, so you drown only two meters from the surface. Got it?” He asked, grabbing an air tank from the wall.

“Yeah, I think so.” She replied.

Mason walked past her, putting on his mask and regulator before opening the hatch. “We’d both still be dead.”

**3 Hours Before Takeoff**

Mason found Emery staring up at the rocket from the vehicle bay two hours before daybreak. She was just watching it silently as the hoopfish darted about below her, her feet on the top step of the ladder, just below the surface of the gently rocking waves. The night sky looked strange without a moon, just thousands of stars pinned above them. “Emery, shouldn’t you be asleep?” He asked, treading water beside her.

“Probably,” she didn’t turn around, just kept watching the sky.

“What’s on your mind?” He, too, was practically diurnal at this point, but Emery was usually tired by the end of the day, and it was unlike her to be staying so still. He usually found her roaming the base or poking at fish in the aquarium during these hours. 

“I don’t know.” She replied. Mason waited for her to immediately contradict herself by saying exactly how she felt. “I’m not sure if I’ll miss this place.”

“That’s fair.” He held his hands behind his head, letting himself float to the surface on his back. “It’s pretty sometimes, but god is it terrifying.”

“Yeah.” Emery finished simply. There was another calm silence, broken by a low, smooth song below them. 

“I’m gonna miss the reefbacks, though.” The two said at the exact same time. Emery laughed softly. 

“Well, since I’m gonna have to fly the rocket later, I’m going to get some more sleep.” Mason sat up, treading water again. “You coming?”

“Nah. I’ll just meet you later.”

“Okay.” Mason ducked back beneath the waves, back to the base. He liked having Emery around. Maybe she was hard in herself sometimes, but she thought of things he could never even conceive, and those were only the ideas she voiced. So he wasn’t worried about her.


	9. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two finally go home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my intention, originally, was to leave the story at the last chapter, so i suppose this can be perceived as like a short little epilogue, just some nice fluffy dialogue between these guys before i seal off this work for good. Thank you all for reading!

Emery climbed up off the wall of the base, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Mason was knocking on the hatch above her, waving a gloved hand.

“Is it time?” She asked him, yelling up through the glass. She saw him nod. She glanced around the base, trying to pick what she needed to bring. She decided on only a first aid kit and a shell she had found on one of the reefbacks. It was probably irresponsible to assume that Mason already had everything, but she didn’t want to take too much with her anyway. She climbed out of the hatch and bobbed up to the surface, meeting Mason at the base of the rocket.

“You think people will be impressed if we get back?” Emery asked, opening the hatch to the rocket and letting Mason step inside. 

“Why wouldn’t they be? Why, were you hoping to make a big dramatic entrance?”

Emery laughed, running her finger along the interior as she followed Mason. “That would be fun, but I was more thinking, like, would they remember our names?”

“I hope they do,” Mason replied, climbing up the ladder. “Imagine going through all tha tjust for everyone to ask who we are,”

Emery swung on one of the handles for a moment before climbing up after him. “I mean, even if we crash in Wyoming or something and nobody even notices, I’ll still find my way back home- go get a proper cup of coffee or something. What about you?”

“I don’t know,” Mason had found his way to one of the pilot’s seat, fiddling with knobs on the dashboard above him. “Maybe write a book about what it was like here?” he mused.

“We weren’t here that long, you sure you could stretch it into a whole book?”

“Maybe just a short story, then. Then I’ll go back to my apartment, and pet my cat. But i guess we have to get home first.”

Emery looked up, sliding into the seat next to him. “We’re ready?”

“I don’t know, are we?”

She gazed out of the glass at the wispy clouds swirling into intricate patterns above, embroidering the cobalt sky with white lace. Her mind drifted for a moment to the Lifepod in the jellyshroom cave, the crashfish darting about in the shallows, the reefbacks calling to each other below them. She knew what she was leaving behind, and so did Mason. “Yeah,” She replied. “I am,”

“Then let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the real mystery: who was taking care of Mason's cat when he was away?

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I have a bunch more chapters written for this, I’m just editing and piecing them all together at the moment. I haven’t posted in a little bit and thought this would be nice to have here. The bigger work is more focused on the characters and not the plot of the game itself, since you probably know it if you’re reading this. As much as I love it, I had to cut out the Kharaa plotline because it was too convoluted and I already had conflict set up between the characters instead of just using the game’s main objective. Either way, hopefully I’ll get it out soon.


End file.
